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A/HRC/31/L.10
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: Limited
18 March 2016
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Thirty-first session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Angola,* Austria,* Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina,* Bulgaria,* Costa Rica,* Côte
d’Ivoire, Cyprus,* Denmark,* Djibouti,* Fiji,* France, Georgia, Germany, Greece,*
Hungary,* Ireland,* Italy,* Latvia, Lebanon,* Liechtenstein,* Luxembourg,* Malawi,*
Maldives, Malta,* Mexico, Montenegro,* Morocco, Netherlands, Norway,* Panama,
Paraguay, Peru,* Poland,* Portugal, Republic of Moldova,* Romania,* Samoa,*
Slovakia,* Slovenia, Spain,* Switzerland, Tunisia* Yemen:* draft resolution
31/… Human rights and the environment
The Human Rights Council,
Reaffirming all its resolutions on human rights and the environment, the latest of
which is resolution 28/11 of 26 March 2015, and relevant resolutions of the General
Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled
“Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in which the
Assembly adopted a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centered set of universal and
transformative Sustainable Development Goals and targets, and aiming to contribute to the
full implementation of that Agenda by 2030, and to the high-level political forum on
sustainable development as the central United Nations platform for the follow-up and
review thereof;
Recalling also the principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development,
Recognizing that human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable
development, that the right to development must be fulfilled in order to meet the
development and environmental needs of present and future generations equitably, and that
the human person is the central subject of development and should be an active participant
in and the beneficiary of the right to development,
*
Non-member State of the Human Rights Council.
GE.16-04399(E)
*1604399*
A/HRC/31/L.10
Reaffirming that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and
interrelated,
Welcoming the Paris Agreement adopted at the twenty-first session of the
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, including its reference to human rights obligations,
Recognizing that sustainable development and the protection of the environment
contribute to human well-being and to the enjoyment of human rights,
Recognizing also, conversely, that climate change, the unsustainable management
and use of natural resources and the unsound management of chemicals and waste may
interfere with the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and that
environmental damage can have negative implications, both direct and indirect, for the
effective enjoyment of all human rights,
Recognizing further that, while the human rights implications of environmental
damage are felt by individuals and communities around the world, the consequences are felt
most acutely by those segments of the population which are already in vulnerable
situations,
1.
Welcomes the work undertaken to date by the Special Rapporteur on the issue
of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and
sustainable environment, and takes note of his most recent reports on possible methods of
implementing human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy
and sustainable environment1 and on human rights obligations relating to climate change;2
2.
Also welcomes the work of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights on the issue of human rights and the environment;
3.
Further welcomes the work undertaken by the United Nations Environment
Programme in support of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, and in helping to clarify
the relationship between human rights and the environment;
4.
Calls upon States:
(a)
To respect, protect and fulfil human rights, including in actions related to
environmental challenges;
(b)
To adopt and implement environmental and other laws ensuring, among other
things, the rights to information, participation and access to justice;
(c)
To facilitate public awareness and participation in environmental
decision-making, including of civil society, women, youth and indigenous peoples,
including by protecting the rights to freedom of expression and to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association;
(d)
To fully implement their obligations to respect and ensure human rights
without distinction of any kind, including in the application of environmental laws and
policies;
(e)
To promote a safe and enabling environment in which individuals, groups
and organs of society, including those working on human rights and environmental issues,
can operate free from threats, hindrance and insecurity;
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A/HRC/31/53.
A/HRC/31/52.
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(f)
To provide for effective remedies for human rights violations and abuses,
including those related to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable
environment, in accordance with their obligations and commitments under international
law;
(g)
To take into account human rights obligations and commitments relating to
the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the implementation
and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals, bearing in mind the integrated and
multisectoral nature of the latter;
5.
Encourages States:
(a)
To adopt an effective normative framework for the enjoyment of a safe,
clean, healthy and sustainable environment;
(b)
To address compliance with human rights obligations and commitments
relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the
framework of human rights mechanisms, including the universal periodic review;
(c)
To facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences between experts in
the environmental and human rights fields, and to promote coherence among different
policy areas;
(d)
To build capacities for taking human rights obligations and commitments into
account in their efforts to protect the environment;
(e)
To explore ways to incorporate information on human rights and the
environment, including climate change, in school curricula, in order to teach the next
generations to act as agents of change, including by taking into account indigenous
knowledge;
(f)
To consider further the human rights perspective within the framework of
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including at the twenty-second
session of the Conference of the Parties, to be organized by Morocco in Marrakech from
7 to 18 November 2016;
(g)
To seek to ensure that projects supported by environmental finance
mechanisms respect all human rights;
(h)
To collect disaggregated data on the effects of environmental harm on
vulnerable groups, as appropriate;
(i)
To promote environmental and climate action that is gender-responsive and
takes into consideration the vulnerability of ecosystems and the needs of persons and
communities in vulnerable situations;
(j)
To continue to share good practices in fulfilling human rights obligations
relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment through the
good practices database maintained by the Special Rapporteur;
(k)
To build capacity for the judicial sector to understand the relationship
between human rights and the environment;
(l)
To foster a responsible private business sector and to encourage corporate
sustainability reporting, while protecting environmental standards in accordance with
relevant international standards and agreements and other ongoing initiatives in this regard;
6.
Recognizes the important role played by individuals, groups and organs of
society, including human rights defenders, in the promotion and protection of human rights
as they relate to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment;
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7.
Also recognizes the important role of national human rights institutions in
support of human rights relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable
environment;
8.
Stresses the need for enhanced cooperation among States, the United Nations
Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other relevant international and
regional organizations, agencies and programmes, including by regularly exchanging
knowledge and ideas and building synergies in the protection of human rights and the
protection of the environment, bearing in mind an integrated and multisectoral approach;
9.
Decides to remain seized of the matter, in accordance with its annual
programme of work.
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